Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, TO A SONG OF SAPPHO, DISCOVERED IN EGYPT, by LEONORA SPEYER


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

TO A SONG OF SAPPHO, DISCOVERED IN EGYPT, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Jonah wept within the whale
Last Line: As gods are wont to do.
Subject(s): Goddesses & Gods; Jonah (bible); Mythology; Sappho (610-580 B.c.)


Jonah wept within the whale,
But you have sung these centuries
Under the brown banks of the Nile
Within a dead, dried crocodile:
So fares the learned tale.

When they embalmed the sacred beast
The Sapphic scroll was white and strong
To wrap the spices that were needed,
Its song unheard, its word unheeded,
By crocodile or priest.

The song you sang on Lesbos when
Atthis was kind or Mica sad;
The startled whale spewed Jonah wide,
From out the monster mummified
Your roses sing again.

Your roses! from the seven strands
Of the small harp whereon they grew;
The holy beast has had his pleasure,
His bellyful of Attic measure,
Under the desert sands.

Along strange winds your petals blew
In singing fragments, roses all.
The air is heavy on the Nile,
The drowsy gods drowse on the while,
As gods are wont to do.





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